Study On Government-Citizen Interaction In The Public Sphere On The Internet

The study begins with basi c theories of public sphe re on the Internet and government-citizen interaction. It looks upon the m echanism, challenges and developement path of governm ent-citizen interaction. Specifically, the dissertation is divided into the following four parts:The first part discusses the basic theory of the government-citizen interaction in the public sphere on the Internet. Cyberspace, where government-citizen interactions take place, features with some characters of the public sphere. It belongs to a new fashion of public sphere: the online public s phere. This study illus trates the d efinition and characters of constructing th e public sphere theory on the Internet. Followed in this section are discussions of definition and possible misunderstanding of the public sphere on the Internet. The end of the section intr oduces the government-citizen interaction in the public sphere on the Internet.The second part explains governm ent-citizen interaction mechanism in the public sphere on the Internet. The mechanism includes the interacting space and the interacting process. First the section illustrates government websites and social media, blogs, BBS forums, online news an d discussion groups as the in teracting space. T he interacting process section attem pts to construct an interactive process including consensus building and government’s response, and anal yzes the functions of governm ent-citizen realtions for citizens and gocernments.The third s ection analyzes ch allenges to government-citizen interaction in the public sphere on the Internet. The Internet public sphere poses challenges to both governments and citizens. To governments the challenges center on how to respond to public demands prudently and shortcut respondi ng time. To citizens the challenges are rational expression of political view s, and to continuous civil participation. So this part concentrates on those both sides, and specifies challenges in such two courses.The final part of the dissertation exam ines the developm ent path of the government-citizen interaction in the public sphere on the Inte rnet from three levels. In legal terms, governments should strengthen legislation and m aintain the positive interaction of the governm ent-citizen interaction. At the inst itutional level, the government should improve the reform of government institutions and strengthen the construction of electronic government. In views of governance, the governm ent should maintain ability in order to for m multi-governance among government, citizens and network organizations. This part is based on those three developm ent paths, putting forward and ar guing these specific policy suggestions that m ay be c onducive to the fulfillment of the development paths.